The Gun and the Pulpit

i saw this funny western only once when it came on TV when i was a mear eleven years old,but i was in love with the vivacious pamela sue martin who i'd seen in 'the posideon adventure' two years before and of course because of her i loved it then very much. as for now i'd say it was kinda corny in an 'alias smith and jones' kind of way,but harmless and fun just the same and of course who can deny a film with marjoe gortner its due. i wish it was on video so i could leer at the gorgeous ms. martin once again,but it is rare to find a 70's TV movie on video,let alone DVD. but for old time sake,i give it five stars. i hope this nostalgic rant helps somebody.

It's pretty obvious that the made-for-TV movie "The Gun and the Pulpit" was a television pilot in disguise. It didn't get picked up by any network for a series, and maybe that's for the best. Not that this movie is awful, but I think writers would have soon run out of ideas for this gunfighter- disguised-as-a-preacher character. I think this idea works best as a one- shot, and the movie does a fairly good job at that. Marjoe Gortner is pretty good as the main character, showing a sense of humor as well as a lot of enthusiasm. (Though his resemblance to B movie actor Michael Dudikoff is unintentionally funny.) There are some genuinely funny moments here and there, and the movie unfolds at a brisk clip and never outstays its welcome. This movie isn't hard to find - it's apparently fallen into the public domain, so many video companies are selling it - so keep an eye out for it.

Take "Shane", put him in a collar, make the kid a teenage girl instead of a little boy, and you have "The Gun and the Pulpit." Marjoe Gortner is an interesting actor, but the bad guy could have used more of the menace that Jack Palance brought to "Shane". The cheapness of the typical '70's made for TV movie shines through, so it's hard to give this more than a five out of ten.

But I like Marjoe. I hear he's running charitable events involving golf in Hollywood these days. It's too bad his acting career never took off.

I also liked the gunfight where both gunfighters miss. That's something I'd never seen before in a Western. There was some thinking going on here.

About seven years earlier Robert Mitchum essayed the character of a gunfighter/preacher in Five Card Stud. Although that film was far better than The Gun And The Pulpit, this made for television is a cut above average for television film. It also has the unassailable casting of Marjoe Gortner as a false preacher.

As we know Marjoe who was only using his first name when being a child preacher did a documentary exposing the racket that huckster evangelism is. So it's fitting and proper that he play a phony preacher in The Gun And The Pulpit, a gunfighter on the run who exchanges clothes with a dead preacher on the road to escape a posse.

There's plenty of trouble in the town where he takes up the pulpit, the local Ponderosa owner David Huddleston is leaning on everybody with his gunfighters on the payroll. Marjoe's fast draw wins him a lot of admirers most especially Estelle Parsons and her nubile young daughter Pamela Sue Martin. She's the reason he's staying. And there's also Slim Pickens who knows his secret and his real identity, but knows the town needs a savior. {pun intended}.

This western moves real nice with the kind of plot that was standard fare for the front row matinée kids of the 30s and 40s. Marjor is a good western hero, maybe he should have gone into that line of work.

In order to elude authorities, western outlaw Marjoe Gortner (as Ernie Parsons) assumes the identity of a traveling preacher. Mr. Gortner takes up residence in parson-needy Castle Walk, Arizona; there, at a funeral, he and sexy teenager Pamela Sue Martin (as Sally Underwood) are mutually attracted. Soon, Gortner's shady past threatens his budding relationship with young Ms. Martin. Sidekick Slim Pickens (as Billy One-Eye) and mother Estelle Parsons (as Sadie Underwood) lend their support.

Even in this slightly above average television production, Gortner has star quality to burn. Taken as a screen test, "The Gun and the Pulpit " miraculously elevates the former evangelist to convincing western hero. Pamela Sue Martin is excellent as Gortner's barely legal leading lady; her glances are more sensual than a strip tease. Director Daniel Petrie handles the assignment admirably. Gortner's star quality was evident since the riveting documentary "Marjoe" (1972), which revealed his evangelical movement to be a money-grubbing scam. In hindsight, it seems Marjoe Gortner was too hot for Hollywood to handle.

****** The Gun and the Pulpit (4/3/74) Daniel Petrie ~ Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Sue Martin, Slim Pickens, Estelle Parsons